Notes and Documentation
EXPERT Damage Drop Server Settings

DOCUMENTATION COVERS

General info why-- my comments about how it works
Flag States -- when a flag can and can't be picked up
game information -- Detail on the gameplay
client settings -- client console commands / binds
Server settings -- server settings/console
FAQ section - answers common questions
DemoFile - uses GRA1 map file

--WMC SALUTES YOU--

IDSOFTWARE FOR QUAKE2 AND ADD-ON SUPPORT
EXPERT MOD TEAM
ALL THE EXPERT GAMERS OUT THERE

Quake2 and logo copyright of idsoftware..

My General info why section

First I would like to thank the Expert Mod team for making a fantastic mod for quake2, and ID software for Quake2.
This has been one of my most favorite modifications for Quake2. I also thank Expert Mod team for opening up the game source to us newbies out here who wanted to learn about game coding. As I am one of them when it comes to gaming. And also Id software for opening up there knowledge base as well. Thanks Again..

In Most expert servers,  you steal the opponents flag while defending or retrieving yours from the enemy team by running over to the location where your flag is based to score a capture as long as your flag still stands at its base. Then capturing the flag for points until you've reached a capture limit, with that ultimately ending that map, and doing it again till you get  tired of it.

The general idea I had in mind for making this was ctf was really allot of fun. But I thought to myself, why can't I grab my own flag to protect it, or hide it in a suitable place until my team brought the other flag back to my base. Then on top of that why would I be able to carry anything while I'm being hurt by a Rocket Launcher or a Rail directly in my shoulder to which is connected to the Arm that should be holding the Flag.

Then it dawned on me. Instead of waiting for somebody to tell me how it's gonna be, I decided I can do this myself.
So, I set out on a quest of making it possible. To make a player drop that heavy rod Iron Flag  while he's taking a nasty Full spread of Shotgun Pellets in the chest, Go figure.

Game Information

This mod still works with normal Expert Client software. I have tested this, but notably the client should have this installed in place of the older version of the package. The new mode is a bit different then most expert servers though. It modifies a few of the gameplay elements in such a way to allow every player to grab any flag. It also enables changes to some serverside features as well as some new clientside commands, allowing for different things to happen when the server Operator changes different settings.

There  are also several modifications I have made like the removal of the rapidfire cheat while spectating.
Pretty bad to let a spectator kill someone while a fierce battle is  going on, not knowing where the shot was from
when you know no one was behind you..

Ok now that thats out of the way.

I would like to introduce the tactics and ideas behind playing this mod..

• The gameplay gets very fast and furious on the maps we tested this on, and is actually kinda funny at times because a player can have a flag one minute and not realize that hes dropped it. Or have the Flag all the way back to base and get hit and instead of picking up the flag it returns to the other teams base, where the other team picks up a quick capture..Thus leaving you in a state of ...What the..Who the .. How the.. Well i think you know what i mean..

• The general concept is still to capture the other teams flag.. But what happens differently in this modification is when a player gets hit with enough damage from a weapon and is carrying a flag, he will drop the flag and can't touch it for 2 seconds.. Next, A player can grab any flag he wants. But what you need to really know is when you can and can't grab a flag. That is outlined below. Plus theres a nifty little screenshot of it in action below on this page as well. The effects of the "damage dropping of the flag" work based on different lethality settings. For  anyone who doesn't know what this means, the lethality setting on a gameserver tells the server how much to multiply the damage a player takes based on the weapon that was fired .. For example. If a player was hit with a rocket he would take so much damage multiplied by the lethality setting. So say the rocket does 50 damage points and the server is set to a lethality setting of 1.2.. that would be a damage hit of 50 +(50 * 1.2).. Ok.

• This also makes, forces teams to work together.

• You can hold any flag you want, but not both at the same time. If you have your team flag and try to grab the other flag, you will automatically drop the flag you are carrying(because a player can't hold both flags).Your team however can have both flags..Example.. Player Bob and Player John are on Team Blue, Bob has blue Flag, and John has Red Flag(see Figure 1 below)

• The flag capturing works in several modes and is based on the Flag states (see below).

• There are still 2 flags , the typical Red and Blue Flags are used(typical CTF settings).

• The new display mode shows who has what color flag now instead of what team your flag carrier is on. Players need to get used to this more.(see Figure 1 below)
  (I would also bind a key to score command for quick access to who's on your team.)

• Tactics are simple. Hide or carry your own flag until a player on your team returns with the other teams flag.Then drop or damage yourself enough to drop your teams flag, then walk over it to return it.

FLAG STATES

There are different states the flag can be in.(These are the typical states)

• First is at base on it's stand.
• Second is a player is carrying  it
• Third a flag is dropped somewhere.

Based on these factors no one FLAG Carrier can hold both flags.

Figure 1

See FAQ section Below for details on how to Capture Flags

NOTE:   THERE IS A .5 SECOND DELAY BEFORE A CARRIER CAN TOUCH A FLAG THAT WAS DROPPED BY HIMSELF

• BOTH FLAGS ARE AT THERE BASE ON THE FLAG STANDS, ANYONE CAN PICK UP ANY FLAG --- 4 POSSIBLE

  • RED TEAM PLAYER    CAN PICK UP    RED FLAG
    • ANY RED PLAYER CAN PICKUP THE RED FLAG
  • RED TEAM PLAYER    CAN PICK UP    BLUE FLAG
    • ANY RED PLAYER CAN PICKUP THE BLUE FLAG
  • BLUE TEAM PLAYER CAN PICK UP    BLUE FLAG
    • ANY BLUE PLAYER CAN PICKUP THE BLUE FLAG
  • BLUE TEAM PLAYER CAN PICK UP    RED FLAG
    • ANY BLUE PLAYER CAN PICKUP THE RED FLAG

• RED FLAG AT BASE, RED PLAYER HAS THE BLUE FLAG ---  HERE'S WHAT IT MEANS
  
  • RED TEAM HAS RED FLAG AT BASE ON ITS STAND AND A RED PLAYER IS ALSO CARRYING THE BLUE FLAG
    
    • ANY BLUE PLAYER MAY GRAB THE RED FLAG OFF THE BASE
      
    • ANY RED PLAYER AT THIS TIME MAY NOT TOUCH THE RED FLAG EXCEPT THE RED FLAG CARRIER(BLUE FLAG)
      
    • THE RED CARRIER HERE WOULD SIMPLY SCORE A CAPTURE  WHEN TOUCHING
      HIS OWN FLAG SIMPLY BECAUSE THE RED FLAG IS AT HIS BASE STAND

• BLUE FLAG AT BASE, BLUE PLAYER HAS RED FLAG --- HERE'S WHAT IT MEANS
  
  • BLUE TEAM HAS BLUE FLAG AT BASE ON ITS STAND AND A BLUE PLAYER IS ALSO CARRYING THE RED FLAG
    
    • ANY RED PLAYER MAY GRAB THE BLUE FLAG OFF THE BASE
      
    • ANY BLUE PLAYER AT THIS TIME MAY NOT TOUCH THE BLUE FLAG EXCEPT THE BLUE CARRIER(RED FLAG)
      
    • THE BLUE CARRIER HERE WOULD SIMPLY SCORE A CAPTURE WHEN TOUCHING THE BLUE FLAG
      SIMPLY BECAUSE THE FLAG IS AT HIS BASE STAND

• RED FLAG AT BASE, BLUE PLAYER HAS THE BLUE FLAG --- HERE'S WHAT IT MEANS
  
  • RED TEAM HAS RED FLAG AT BASE ON ITS STAND AND A BLUE PLAYER IS CARRYING BLUE FLAG
    
    • ANY BLUE OR RED PLAYER MAY GRAB THE  RED FLAG ON ITS STAND EXCEPT THE BLUE CARRIER
      
    • IF THE BLUE CARRIER GRABS THE RED FLAG HE WILL AUTOMATICALLY DROP THE BLUE FLAG
      HE IS CARRYING AND PICK UP THE RED FLAG(SINCE IN THIS SCENARIO HE/SHE IS CARRYING THE BLUE FLAG)
      THEN WAIT 2 SECONDS BEFORE HE MAY RETURN THE BLUE FLAG

• BLUE FLAG AT BASE, RED PLAYER HAS THE RED FLAG --- HERE'S WHAT IT MEANS
  
  • BLUE TEAM HAS BLUE FLAG AT BASE ON ITS STAND AND A RED PLAYER IS CARRYING RED FLAG
    
    • ANY BLUE OR RED PLAYER MAY GRAB THE  BLUE FLAG ON ITS STAND EXCEPT THE RED CARRIER
      
    • IF THE RED CARRIER GRABS THE BLUE FLAG HE WILL AUTOMATICALLY DROP THE RED FLAG
      HE IS CARRYING AND PICK UP THE BLUE FLAG(SINCE IN THIS SCENARIO HE/SHE IS CARRYING THE RED FLAG)
      THEN WAIT 2 SECONDS BEFORE HE MAY RETURN THE RED FLAG

• RED FLAG AT BASE, BLUE FLAG IS DROPPED SOMEWHERE --- HERE'S WHAT IT MEANS
  
  • RED TEAM HAS RED FLAG AT BASE ON ITS STAND AND THE BLUE FLAG IS DROPPED SOMEWHERE
    
    • ANY BLUE PLAYER OR RED PLAYER MAY PICK UP THE  BLUE FLAG OR THE RED FLAG
    • NOTE: AT THIS STAGE NO ONE HAS ANY FLAG IN POSSESSION

• BLUE FLAG AT BASE, RED FLAG IS DROPPED SOMEWHERE --- HERE'S WHAT IT MEANS
  
  • BLUE TEAM HAS BLUE FLAG AT BASE ON ITS STAND AND THE RED FLAG IS DROPPED SOMEWHERE
    
    • ANY BLUE PLAYER OR RED PLAYER MAY PICK UP THE  BLUE FLAG OR THE RED FLAG
    • NOTE: AT THIS STAGE NO ONE HAS ANY FLAG IN POSSESSION

• RED FLAG IS DROPPED SOMEWHERE, BLUE FLAG IS ALSO  DROPPED SOMEWHERE --- HERE'S WHAT IT MEANS
  
  • RED TEAM FLAG IS DROPPED SOMEWHERE AND BLUE TEAM FLAG IS DROPPED SOMEWHERE
    
    • ANY BLUE PLAYER OR RED PLAYER MAY PICK UP THE  BLUE FLAG OR THE RED FLAG
    • NOTE: AT THIS STAGE NO ONE HAS ANY FLAG IN POSSESSION

Client Console Commands

BIND A KEY TO THE COMMAND dropflag

---------------  example  -----------------
              Bind A "dropflag"
------------- end example  ---------------
This command allows a player to drop a flag that he has picked up. If you don't have one you'll know.

Remote Console server commands

rcon rcon_password lethality ##.# --- best 1.4 to  20 anything above defeats the purpose

Server Settings-- This section for Server Ops wanting to run This as a Server

Server setting effecting gameplay for damagedrop

• ctf server variable
  setting
  • set ctf = 0 or 1
    1 = enabled , 0 = disabled
    • if ctf is set to 0 damagedrop setting to 1 will be reset to 0
    • damagedrop requires ctf playing mode to function
    • This controls whether or not damedrop settings will ultimately run or not

• damagedrop server variable
  setting
  • set damagedrop = 0 or 1
    • 1 = enabled , 0  = disabled --- any other value then 1 is disabled
    • server must be reinitialized to change this while the server is running in any other mode.
    • If the damagedrop value is set to zero, the server will run like a regular expert CTF server, or DM or whatever mode the server op decides to run it in..
    • I haven't tested it's playability with Flagtrack CTF mode. I would set this to 0 to make sure it doesn't interfere with it.
      

• lethality server variable 
  setting
  • set lethality = 1.4
    • recommended 1.4 to 20 gives a noticeable damagedrop feature setting
    • 1.2 is default mode for typical expert servers, which lessens the amount of weapons that cause a damagedrop.. ie.. player to drop a flag..

FAQ section....Now knowing all this, you ask...

How do I  know when I'm able to pick up a flag?

1. The only real time you can't grab a flag is when a player on your team has the other teams flag and your flag is on its stand. In this case the only players that can grab the flag at the base is the other team. You must in this case defend it from where it stands, on its stand.
2. A player also can't  pickup a Flag when a player on your team has the other Teams Flag. At this time what happens is the Flag gets automatically returned to its base stand.

How do I drop a flag when I am carrying any Flag?

1. Use the dropflag command to drop the flag. or damage yourself.
2. Shoot a rocket down or at a wall  next to you.That will cause the flag to drop from your possession, however it may take a while to do this now.

If our team has both flags how do we capture?

1. The player on your team holding your teams flag must drop the flag using the dropflag command then walk over the Flag to return it to base.or..
2. Damage himself enough to drop the flag, then walk over it to return the flag.

brought to Gamers by a Gamer..
Bill (Incinerator)